Most influential/important persons of the 20th Century

[Murph]

Who in your opinion were the most important/decisive/influential person(s) of the 20th Century?

Mine:

Ronald Reagan
Pope John Paul II
Margaret Thatcher

IMHO the three greatest leaders at the end of the Century overshadowing all others.

[ttusa]

GMTA-Oh how I wish Ronald Reagan would come rescue the U.S.!!!

[Cornbread]

Um... Reagan love? Okaaaay...

Vladimir Lenin
Mao Tse Tung
Franklin D Roosevelt
Joseph McCarty
Yassir Arafat
Martin Luther King

[Redneck]

Mikhael Gorbatchov

[kenw]

Too easy:

[Redneck]

Originally Posted by Redneck

Mikhael Gorbatchov

Most important man who not only spoke about it but actually changed the world and ended the cold war.

[texkam]

Unfortunately, based on the above criteria:

Adolf Hitler. He influenced millions in a very short time and was important enough to be the #1 priority of the free world to stop him.

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. His influence pretty much much dominated the entire 20th century.

These men influenced all of the above people.

[Dobick]

For America as a country:
Henry Ford - incorporation of the Assembly line process for automobiles
Tim Berners-Lee - Creator of the internet
Dwight D Eisenhower - For the Interstate Highway system
J Edgar Hoover - for the pure expansion of the federal arm of law enforcement
Martin Luther King Jr. - For taking the lead on equality and the push towards those ends
Michael Jordan/Tiger Woods - For taking thier respective sports to levels so far above what had ever been done before.
Jackie Robinson - for just showing up

If I was to take the list globally during the 20th Century:
Gorbachov
Hitler
Churchill
General Montgomery
Jimmy Carter - His work towards ensuring fair elections in democracies across the world is incalculable in scope
Oppenheimer (Kinda falls under America as well)
Lech Walesa
Iotola Komeni

Granted the Global list is kinda skewed towards conflicts -- mainly cause I tend to be ignorant of world affairs... something that I should really work to change.

[txphotog]

Surprised no one has named John Kennedy yet. My other would have to be FDR.

[Tom]

Al Gore for inventing the internet and global warming.

[crackhead]

Ronald Reagan, for ushering in a gilded, utopian 8 years where honey flowed from faucets, birds sang and trumpets rang anew.

[DavidsStudio]

Originally Posted by kenw

Too easy:

And all who served with him. It is hard to imagine what the world would be like if it were not for him and all the other men and women, of all countries, that came together.

David

[johnastovall]

A child killed by war, genocide or starvation. We'll never know.

No one named here can ever be as important as that.

[Big Dog]

Originally Posted by Murph

Ronald Reagan
Pope John Paul II
Margaret Thatcher

Hmm. Two politicians and a cleric. But we won't discuss religion or politics ...